The Sunday Morning Run: Some Monks, a Pig and a BIke

Our running group on Sunday morning is steady at 3 people and I always nice to look forward to it. We are starting to venture out and find new routes. Today we were in search of a pathway beside the klong which eluded us and may not even exist. However, we did go through a fairly new and great market which I need to revisit. 

On run last week, one of the girls realized as we got off the bus (confused yet?) that she had left her iphone on the seat. She happened to find a scooter taxi driver who spoke some English, she jumped on the back of his scooter and they went down to the central bus station. We found out that the tiny paper ticket that they give you on the bus is more valuable than we thought since it tells you what bus you are on. She handed over a very sweaty one to the authorities who tracked down the bus and yes, indeed the iphone was in the hands of the ticket person. All it took was a bit of waiting (the bus had to finish its route and get gas) and she had her phone back 1h 15 min after she lost it......pretty impressive. 

If you were wondering why we were on the bus it's because we sometimes run 1-way, go to the market and bus it home.

Along the side of the klong were many people kneeling and waiting for the arrival of the monks to whom they give offerings of food as a reminder to not be selfish. Maybe not quite. There is a custom that I did not know about and just saw today where people buy live animals (toads, fish, shellfish) from vendors and offer them back to the water.  I think they were called merit offerings. It's an interesting catch and release cycle.

The monks are in the orange robes. The temple, called Wat  Bang Peng Tai, is similar to those found all over Thailand. The gold and red is stunning.

I couldn't resist a picture of this pony-go-round

The Pig: I kid you not, he is AS big, if not bigger, than the ponies.

 So, I was asked about bike paths. This is definitely labelled as one........but see what really happens on this sidewalk.

In reality it's kind of more like a free-for-all. Between the cracks, holes, scooters, missing tiles, trees with mutant roots, vendors, walkers and street dogs it's a bit of a skills game. One day I think I will dedicate a post purely to the art of cycling.

If you know me at all, you know I love to ride my bike and this is one thing I missed when we moved. When we moved here and could not (still can't) speak the language, had no idea of how anything worked, recognized little of the food and needed some form of transportation, we got what we could in the way of bikes which has been great and we will still use them all of the time.

However, I have also been dragging Vince to bike shops because I would still really like to do a bit of recreational cycling and my too-small one is a little cramped. It's more of a carry-all-of-Bridget's-stuff-to-school kind of bike. So, we found two more stores today which were close by and what a find! I'm not really that fussy but some stores only have one that fits me. I found a perfect one today....and it is red......happy day!

That's my new bike being put together. They are pretty amazing here. He had a black bike, I asked if he had red in my size and next thing you know, the box is open and they are assembling it. 

It was starting to rain and we were discussing how to get it home. Should I ride it? No, I'd probably get lost. Vince ride it? Nah, it's a lot too small. I asked the salesman if he thought we could get it into a taxi. No problem., he says. We pay for the bike, he picks it up and puts it on his shoulder and after stopping 3 taxis who refused, he found one that would take us. What a nice guy! 

Two refusal....patience.

The joke's on me.....in goes the bike....then in goes me.

I think I still have dents in my leg from whatever metal piece was trying to pierce my skin. Guess who is seating in the front seat holding the water bottle?

I am trying to look like this whole jamming me and the bike in the back of a taxi is very normal for me.

Vince wanted to know why I wore white shorts to try out bikes which, knowing bike stores, is a dirty business. It was a great question to which I really didn't have an answer other than i have been here a month and haven't worn them yet. How's that for a great reason. You are pretty much going to get dirty, sweaty, rained on or all three so I just threw caution to the wind and wore them. 

What I think I should have said is that "They would go really well in a photo shoot with a red bike" You cannot tell but it is absolutely pouring with rain outside. I may need to purchase a little fender...we'll see.